Fight of Gods is Kinda Terrible, But I Love It

Released onto Steam Early Access a couple of days ago, Fight of Gods is one of those games that you catch a glimpse of and immediately proclaim “what the fuck?”.

And you’d be right to do so. The whole idea behind Fight of Gods is utterly ridiculous. So much so, that I’m surprised it’s taken this long for someone to create it. You see, in Fight of Gods, gods both old and new come together to duke it out and prove which one is the best of them all. It feels old fashioned, scrappy as hell and a bit distasteful, but in all honestly I couldn’t give a rat’s ass because it’s just so much fun.

No less than ten gods are included in the current build, but more are planned to be added as development goes on. There’s Zeus, Athena, Odin, Moses, Buddha, and even fan favourite J.C. – the one and only Jesus Christ. Though while each character model has some nice touches and a truly unique look, the graphics on the whole are pretty dire. I mean, really. It’s like being taken back in time.

The arenas in which you do battle suffer from the same fate. They often have bits of flair that stand out, but generally they’re woefully basic. Even worse are the fight cards/loading screens before each battle. For some reason they look like they’re rendered at an awful sub-HD resolution, making them hella ugly. No one’s going to be buying Fight of Gods for its visuals then, but at its budget price, it might just be worth buying for its gameplay.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Fight of Gods doesn’t stand up at the side of games like Street Fighter or Tekken mechanically, but its gameplay is solid enough to provide you with some laughs. Employing a light, medium and strong attack system, Fight of Gods is easy enough for anyone to pick up and play. Add special moves, Street Fighter style super combos and its own unique Divine Powers system into the fray however, and you have a fighting game that has all the depth it needs to be enjoyed by a wide variety of players.

Special moves are pulled off using the typical combination of D-Pad movements and buttons, and ranging from projectiles to counters, they’re pretty flashy. Not as flashy as super combos though, which if used to finish off an opponent come complete with an over-the-top backdrop to showcase your success. Each character’s Divine Power can be easily activated by the press of a button when their Divine Power gauge is full, granting them unique status boosts that can turn a fight around. It may not be particularly refined, but it’s a fighting system that works, and that’s good enough for something that at this moment in time is essentially little more than an enjoyable novelty.

While online play is planned for the future, currently, Fight of Gods is strictly an offline affair. When playing by yourself you can fight through the arcade mode, complete with a mysterious final boss simply called Boss, and practice your skills in training. However, if you have a friend close by that finds the idea of gods beating the crap out of each other as amusing as you do, you can also play in versus mode. As features go it’s hardly expansive, but it’s enough to get by.

For just £5.59 (or £3.35 if you buy it before 11th September), Fight of Gods may not look like a modern game, and its mechanics may not be particularly robust, but it’s very entertaining. Have you never wondered who’d win in a fight between Jesus and Buddha? I hadn’t either until I’d witnessed Fight of Gods in action, and now all I can think about is all the other match ups I’d like to see. If only its developer, Digital Crafter, could go about adding Satan into the mix sooner rather than later…